The present invention relates to a device or pin for coupling interlocked members. The invention has particular application in the construction of ready-to-assemble or quickly assembled structures, and particular items that incorporate interlocking members.
Ready-to-assemble structures are easy to construct, often without tools. Structures of this type are often favored because they are relatively inexpensive to make and purchase and therefore provide a low-cost alternative to other more involved constructions. Ready-to-assemble (or RTA) structures have been developed that are durable and strong enough to survive a significant time under normal use. Another benefit of RTA structures is that they can often be disassembled for transport and then re-constructed at a new location.
One common application of RTA technology is as furniture or shelving, such as the shelf unit shown in FIG. 1. RTA furniture is especially useful in children's rooms or college dormitories because it is inexpensive yet durable. Another use of RTA technology has been in the construction of lower cost caskets. One such casket is disclosed in pending application Ser. No. 10/898,552, entitled “Mortise and Tenon Casket” and published as U.S. 2005/0138782 on Jun. 30, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This application discloses a low cost casket that retains much of the strength and beauty of more expensive natural wood caskets. In one embodiment disclosed in the '552 Application, a mortise and tenon joint construction is used to interlock components of the casket. This joint construction employs a tab extending from one component, such as a bottom panel, that projects through a slot formed in another component, such as a side panel of the casket. The tab defines a hole through which a pin is inserted to fix or interlock the tab to the side panel. An example of this mortise and tenon casket is shown in FIG. 8.
This mortise and tenon joint construction is particularly useful for RTA structures because the resulting joint is very firm and stable. This joint construction is also easy to implement in a wide range of materials, such as wood, plastic or metal since the machining required for the interlocked components involves forming a hole in one component and a slot in another.